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SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24113/ijellh.v8i12.10865 Feminist Perspective in the Novel of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy Hari Lal Kori Research Scholar Department of English and Other Foreign Languages Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University Lucknow, Utter Pradesh, India Dr. Vipin Kumar Pandey Head of Department Department of English and Other Foreign Languages Dr. ShakuntalaMisra National Rehabilitation University Lucknow, Utter Pradesh, India [email protected] Abstract Men and women are the two best creation of nature. She has provided both equal rights but it is man who is too clever and has full control over woman. From a very long time he has limited her freedom and rights. That is why, they have been victims of inequality and exploitation for a very long time. The society which is of traditional mindset believes that a woman should live in boundary wall, give birth to children and to look after them. Most of the religions of the world emphasize that women should be subordinate to and dependent on men. In childhood they should be in take care of father, in youth by her husband and in old age by her sons. The Hindu philosophy, the religious books of Hindu as the Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Muslims the Christians and others also have same views about the www.ijellh.com 114 SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2020 position of women in the society. All of them impose on women strict rules of discipline and prohibit them from the rights equal to men. The women’s position in the family has been that of a servile creature, a playing thing an object of lust and pleasures. Commenting on the position of females in the society Shantha Krishnaswany Writes : “She is a creature who as a child is sold of to stranger for a bridal price or when she grows-up serves as supplier of dowry for her husband’s family or who as a widow in a final act of obliteration immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre to be acclaimed as ‘Sati-Savitri’ as an immortal.” In this way, they had to live and suffer for a long period in a traditional standpoint and male dominated society. But change is the law of nature. Old things change, yielding to new. One thing can not last for a long time. There is also a proverb that ‘there is delay in God’s house but not darkness. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra VidyaSagar, BadruddinTaiyab, DhondoKeshavKarve and so many social reformers came on the stage and raised their voice against the suppression, pangs, exploitation, disparity and subjection of women of the society. SavitribaiPhule, a social reformer and educationalist of Maharashtra established a school for the first time in India for girls. She is always remembered as the first woman teacher of India who did her best for the betterment of the women. Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone de Beauvoir, ElainShawlter, Virgina Woolf and others are also some name in the history, that can never be forgotten in life. The women of present time who are living happily, with respect and with their rights are very much indebted to them. After the Independence in India the Indian government also promoted education towards building a better society. The Constitution of India which was introduced in 1950, also included so many crucial provisions for women welfare as well as for their empowerment. Women’s studies and women’s movement also came into existence and did their best for the welfare of women community. The women who are writing the novels or www.ijellh.com 115 SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2020 other genre of literature at present time are primarily focusing on the women’s welfare, respect and their empowerment. Anita Desai, ShashiDeshpande, KamlaMarkandaya, BhartiMukharjee, Shobha De, NayantaraSahagal and others are some renowned name in Indian English literature who have secured their name and fame in the literary world. At present time they are writing novels. R.K. Narayan and Vikram Seth are also world-wide recognised for their writings. All these male and female writers who are advocating for the welfare, empowerment, equality and rights of women community are known and famous as a feminist. Feminist perspective came into prominence after the tireless efforts of the abovementioned and others. The present paper will endeavour to discuss the presentation of women in A Suitable Boy, a bulkiest novel of Vikram Seth. He is a social writer of present day. He has written unique novels. They are not alike and have dissimilarity. In his novel A Suitable Boy, he has presented women characters form every filed. They are real and perform their role successfully. Keywords: Impose, feminist, perspective, dominated, suppression, disparity, welfare, empowerment, pangs. Vikram Seth is one of the most significant novelists in Indian English literature of present time. He is famous not only as a novelist but also as a travel writer, librettist, children’s writer, a biographer as well as a memoirist. With the insolubility and depth of his work as well as considerable achievements in prose as well as in verse, Seth has proved that he is master in English Language. He was born on 20 June, 1952 in Calcutta of west Bengal in India. His father was Prem Seth who was an executive in a Bata India Limited shoe company. He migrated during his service period from one place to other. He could not stay with his family. Leila Seth, the first woman judge in Delhi High-Court was his mother. After sometime she became the chief justice of a state High Court at Simla. She studied law in www.ijellh.com 116 SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2020 London while pregnant with her second son and came first in her bar examination conducted one week after her delivery. Shantum is his younger brother who is a Buddhist and sister Aradhana is a film-maker, married to an Austrian diplomat. She worked in populer movies of Deepa Mehta’s ‘Earth and Fire’. His mother Leila Seth has discloses in her memoir ‘On Balance’ that most of the characters of the novel A Suitable Boy are amalgam butHaresh who works in a leather factory is a portrait of her husband Prem Seth After his greatness there is a great contribution of his parents. He was very much influenced by his parents. His father being a businessman had no time and interest in arts. But his mother Leila Seth was a learned woman and interested in poetry. She motivated Seth to write poetry. Vikram Seth received his education at various places. He got his early education in a public school at Dehradun. He took his B.A. degree from Corpus Christi College, Oxford and enrolled himself in Stanford University in California, U.S.A. for Ph.D. He could not complete his research work. Then he went to China to join Nanjin University during the year 1980-82 to pursue his doctorate. Seeing the talent of Vikram Seth his teacher Timothy Steele encouraged him to write and supported him. The result was that Vikram Seth became a creative writer. For his education he had to go at various places. He came into contact with the people of different religions, castes, cultures and geographical background. He lived in Asia, America, China, London, Veinna and Venice and achieved a lot of experience. His world wide travel has given him the great advantage of a wider exposer of life and communication across cultural background-Indian, European, Chinese and American. During this period he learnt many foreign languages besides English. He learnt Welsh, German, French, Mandarin, Urdu and Hindi. He is famous in the realm of literary world as a novelist but he himself has categorised as a poet first and novelist second. www.ijellh.com 117 SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH e-ISSN: 2582-3574 p-ISSN: 2582-4406 VOL. 8, ISSUE 12, DECEMBER 2020 Vikram Seth, being a versatile writer, has written three novels. All these novels have their peculiar quality and is absolutely apart from one another. They differ in theme and technique with one another. The readers are attracted for their unique features. The Golden Gate his first novel is written in verse. It gives him credit of being first Indian novelist who wrote it in verse form. For this novel Seth was given the Sahitya Akademi Award in the year 1988. He has used rhyming tetrameter sonnet in this novel. It consists of 594 sonnets written in iambic tetrameter. The novel has five main characters. All of them are inter-connected. They are John Brown, Janet Hawakaya, Liz Dorati, Phil and Ed Dorati. Each comes from different background, different cities, different professions, yet they live in the same society. An Equal Music is next novel of Vikram Seth. It was written in the year 1999. This novel is set in London with Western Classical Music as its background. This novel was awarded EMMA [BT Ethnic and Multi cultural Media Award] in 2001. It is a novel of musicians who dedicate their life for music. Music has been presented in the novel as a noble addiction. Michael Holme and Julia McNichol are main character of the novel who are lovers. Vikram Seth choose the theme of music and love as the main theme of the novel because Seth had very much interest in Music.